The Essential Element of ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ That No One Will Notice

So we have the conversations being triggered with the ambient sounds, the reflections off the walls, making sure that we have the crowd sounds that are reactive… so you’re hearing sounds from crowds where there are crowds. We have crowd sounds that can be representative of the characters that are there, and we’re trying to get details into this that often can go unnoticed. They’re not obvious. But when you stack a detail on a detail on a detail, that’s when you get this really rich picture that is bigger than the sum of its parts.

This is both the blessing and the curse of audio. In that, often, people won’t notice it. Or notice it actively. But because of that, it gives you this backdoor into the brain, where you can slip some ideas, you can slip some emotions, you can slip some things that will create this feeling. So people will have a feeling, have an experience. And not perhaps know or recognise what it was that created that feeling for them.

Do you ever use that backdoor to plant subtle, almost subconscious clues for gameplay purposes?

It’s very important with these things that they’re subtle. Like, there’s a time for UI sounds that are really strongly showing you that this thing is happening or that thing is happening. You saw in the game we have alerts for entering a dangerous area. So these things are very prominent markers, but you also have the more subtle reactions of the world.f we look at the drive from the hotel in the demo, down to the mall, the ambience is actually changing there. So you start to hear that it’s becoming a little less busy, a little less civil. We hear a little more of the gunfire that’s present in Pacifica. When we get in the mall we have these adverts which are distorted and broken, so actually we can hear that this mall has been hacked. It’s been taken over and controlled.

This isn’t something that’s as obvious as a signal, but it shows you that something’s happening there. And afterwards, the sound is completely different, because there’s no longer this place of danger, so all of the intensity has gone out. We do have an advert playing, but it’s a different advert, it’s been treated in a different way, so that it can instil this feeling of peace, and so the player can know now this place is clear. I’ve healed it.

These audio reflections and other tricks you mentioned, are they mostly for atmosphere or can you use any of that to your advantage in gameplay?

Taking the stealthy approach, this becomes very important. Because you need to be able to hear when someone’s going and not get seen by them, and also, they can hear you. So you need to be aware of the sounds that you’re making. Whether you’re going to upgrade your cyberware, so you can have some shock absorbing legs that can dampen some of the sounds.

Can you increase your senses as well as fooling those of NPCs?

Oh yeah, definitely. So in the demo we showcase one of the cybernetics which is very important for the main character, which is the audio/visual enhancing implant. And this allows the player to zoom in and see things much closer up, but also enhances the hearing. So you could be spying on someone from a distance, eavesdrop on their conversation, and maybe learn a little bit of something about their plans or their weak points or some secrets about the environment that you can use to your advantage.

Using audio "cues" would be perfect approach for city based exploration… cramped, dense, narrow alleyways that obscure your vision plus First Person perspective.
Oddly enough no one did it well ( so far).